VERNON WAYNE BEASLEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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PER CURIAM.
Affirmed.
HOBSON, Acting C. J., and OTT and RYDER, JJ., concur.
PER CURIAM.
Appellant Beasley was charged with, tried and convicted of possession of over 100 pounds of cannabis. He was sentenced to 15 years in the state prison.
His appeal challenges the validity of various pretrial and trial proceedings in the court below. We initially determined that none of his arguments had real merit, although there was support from certain decisions from the First District Court of Appeal for his assertion that prior to the 1979 legislative changes mere possession of cannabis, even in an amount in excess of 100 pounds, was a third degree felony punishable by not more than five years in prison. See Schueren v. State, 370 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Chewning v. State, 366 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) and Aylin v. State, 362 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). However, we declined to follow our sister court and, accordingly, affirmed appellant’s sentence without opinion.
On petition for rehearing appellant points out that another panel of this court recently elected to follow Schueren, Chewning, and Aylin. Reinersman v. State, 370 So. 2d 83 (Fla.2d DCA 1979). In response the state calls to our attention that the fourth district also has refused to adopt the reasoning of Schueren, Chewning et a 1. State v. Brady, 379 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).
In the interest of preserving uniformity, at least within this court, we now hold that mere possession of cannabis is at most a third degree felony. Accordingly, we vacate appellant’s sentence and remand the ease to the circuit court for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.
However, in view of the conflict in opinion among the district courts, and because the subject is of widespread importance to the entire state, we certify the following question to the Supreme Court of Florida:
As Section 893.13 of the Florida Statutes read prior to the changes effected by 1979 legislation, was the unlawful possession, per se, of more than 100 pounds of cannabis a felony of the second or-third degree?
HOBSON, Acting C. J., and OTT and RYDER, JJ., concur.
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Chesnut v. State, 404 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 1981)…382 So. 2d 1349 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)), which directly conflicts with decisions of the District Court of Appeal, First District (Aylin v. State, 362 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)), and the District Court of Appeal, Second District (Beasley v. State, 382 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla.Const. Petitioners were the only persons aboard a boat to which an auxiliary coast guard craft gave tow. On the way to port, the captain of the towing vessel radioed the Martin Count…
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Chesnut v. State, 382 So. 2d 1349 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)…s a felony of the third degree. At issue is the appropriate construction to be placed upon Section 893.13(l)(a)2, Florida Statutes (1977). Both the First and Second Districts have held that such an offense is a third degree felony. Beasley v. State, 382 So. 2d 47 (Fla.2d DCA 1980); Aylin v. State, 362 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). However, we again hold, as we did in State v. Brady, 379 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980) that is a felony of the second degree. In its opinion, the Beasley court certified the fo…
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Reinersman v. State, 382 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)…(a)2 of our statutes or a third degree felony under Section 893.13(l)(e).” The same question, worded in a different manner by our brethren on another panel of this court in an altered decision and opinion rendered on rehearing in Beasley v. State, 382 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980), was certified to our supreme court as one of great public interest. Consistency within this court and harmony among the conflicting decisions of the district courts of appeal require that we join in the certification of this qu…
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- Aylin v. State, 362 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)
- State v. Brady, 379 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Vincent L. "Larry" Schueren, Jr. v. State, 370 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)
- Chewning v. State, 366 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)